Elijah Bubb

Hi! I’m Elijah Bubb and I am 6 years old. I live in Michigan with my Dad, Mom, sister and little brother. Last year I was so excited to start Kindergarten because I love to learn new things. School was going great but I was not feeling myself. I was really crabby and tired. Mom noticed that I was going to the bathroom a lot and was drinking a lot of water. I was also hungry right after I ate and was losing weight. We thought I was just growing and was having a hard time adjusting to my new school schedule.

On Halloween mom knew something just was not right so the next day she checked to see if I had sugar in my pee(heehee). I did! She knew what that meant so we borrowed my uncle’s diabetes kit to check my sugar. The glucose meter just said “HIGH” which meant it was so high that it could not tell us a number. This meant my body was not producing insulin to take care of the sugar in my body.

We found out that I have Type 1 Diabetes, that means my pancreas no longer produces insulin. Without insulin the sugar cannot get into my cells to turn into energy and feed my body. The sugar goes into my bloodstream and then I get rid of it when I go to the bathroom.

Since my body does not make insulin I have to get shots of insulin every time I eat and whenever my sugar is too high. When my sugar gets high it can hurt my body and I won’t grow the way I need to.

I also have to check my sugar at least 5 times a day by poking my finger and putting it on a test strip. This used to hurt a lot and I would scream and cry. Now, I am super brave and poke myself to check my sugar.

The doctors say that I will have to do this the rest of my life and that people do not usually “grow out” of Type 1 Diabetes. When I get older the doctors say I will know what it feels like when my sugar is high or low, but I have no idea right now. If it goes below 70 it can be very dangerous for me, I could even die. Mom and Dad said we are trying to raise money so I can get a Diabetic Alert Dog. These dogs are trained service animals and are awesome! The dog can actually smell when my sugar is high or low, it then alerts me or an adult that something is not right.

It is really scary when I don’t feel my low blood sugar, sometimes I can’t even move my body it is so low. The Diabetic Alert Dog will tell us up to 20 minutes before my Continuous Glucose Monitor(CGM)) will, this can be the difference of life and death.

I really hope we can raise enough money so I can get a Diabetic Alert Dog and feel a little more normal.

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